Yup, believe it or not, an actual TWA L-1011-1 registered N31023 is for sale on eBay. And people are actually bidding on it!! Man wouldnt I love to have this one..hehehe..I guess I can always have my Gemini Jets L-1011

Allegedly, Mr. Robertson's virtual aircraft holding company "Wings Holdings" is going to set up a "Joint Venture" with BPI Aerospace of Miami to re-market Wings Holdings' future "44 L-1011 to be acquired from Delta Airlines soon". However, I never understood why a spare parts company - like BPI - should be partnered for aircraft re-marketing.
Anyway, I just saw that one of BPI's representatives is one of the very "successful" men at former Custom Air Support Holdings that tried to re-market the former Saudi Arabian Airlines L-1011-200s. As I understand now from Saudi Arabian, negotiations are under way with Custom Air for a settlement after the company had withdrawn from a deal to purchase Saudia's condemned aircraft (L1011 and B737-200's). "If we fail to reach an agreement we will take legal action", Saudia's Director General was quoted. Bakr said the company which offered to buy TriStar aircraft was not competent and did not fulfill its commitements. This news report came from Arab News on December 21, 2000. If this goes for BPI's expertise as well...

This, generally, depends on if its was parked in accordance with "Short Term" or "Long Term" storage regulations. If it met the "Short Term Storage", the aircraft could be put back in service in relatively short period. The "Long Term Storage" allows an aircraft to be parked for an extended period without any runs of engines etc.! In this case the return to service requirements are very extensive.

Anyway, the TWA N31023 was obviously put into long term storage. Therefor, the airframe requires extensive maintenance and refurbishment... and is surely not among the "first choices" for any kind of operator (very early serial plus a high total hours and cycles accumulated). Good for spare use. I would expect the reserve between $275,000 and $375,000.

Daniel, actually, Rick Wellman is Rob Wellman's son - and as such has no connection to Custom Air Support.

BPI have bought five L1011s and parted out four; they also have extensive L1011 spares holdings. It therefore makes a great deal of sense to partner with a company which has support expertise. Additionally, BPI has been getting much more involved with aircraft leases and sales recently.

VirginFlyer - You can fit RB211-22Bs or -524s no problem. These engines (especially the -22Bs) can be leased for a very reasonable sum these days!

Daniel - if you look at the website, you'll see that I use Odyssey Group Limited which trades under the various other names. Should we go ahead with the acquisition of a UK carrier we've been in discussions with for some time, that company will have its name changed to the operating name we end up using.

Daniel - not that it has much to do with the subject of this thread! - Celtic Airways was just a working name (as was Celtic Aviation Group, obviously); Wings Holdings is an offshore company and Caledonian Wings was to be the new name for the existing UK airline being acquired. At this moment, though, the only active company is Odyssey. Hope that clarifies things for you.

Ceilidh-
I'm not 'doing an F_boot' (ie. trying to cause trouble) but I noticed that you wrote:
"...Caledonian Wings was to be the new name for the existing UK airline being aquired."
Was this a mistake, or wing Caledonian Wings not happen?

Jamie - nope, but with cybersquatters et al, when the operation gets going it will be under a different name. And it probably won't be as scheduled in 2001 either - the guys with the money that wanted the operation took too long to get their act together for us to keep to the April launch date.